Dr. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Productivity, has disclosed that there has been an increment in minister’s travel allowance. This is notwithstanding the fact that Nigerian workers groan under the yoak of paltry N30,000 monthly minimum wage while professional bodies continue to fight government over unfulfilled welfare promises.
He made it known that in the same vain, ministers of state, permanent secretaries and other top notch appointees daily travel allowances were recently reviewed upward accordingly.
Ngige made the disclosure on Monday on Channels Television’s Politics Today where he also revealed that his monthly salary is N942,000 after tax. He added that, as ministers, they don’t have allowances except for duty allowance when they have to travel for work.
“My salary is N942,000 a month. My salary with my PA — gross total after tax — my feeding, my transport, the transport of one PA, the salary of my gardener, my cook, they are all consolidated. After heavy taxation, they pay me N942,000.
“Every minister you see, that is what it is; special advisers earn around that amount too. The allowances are not anything; we don’t have any allowances except if you travel. You can get duty tour allowance like every other public officer,” Ngige said.
He added that the travel allowance the ministers receive was recently reviewed alongside that of permanent secretaries among others.
“It was reviewed to N100,000 for a minister, and I think ministers of states, N75,000; permanent secretaries, N70,000, and down the line. Level one, everybody else’s own was reviewed, not only our own,” he said.
